Student Resources
NOTE! This page has not yet been updated. Please check with your instructor before using.
Textbooks
There is enough free instructional material online for learning everything there is to know about designing and developing web pages. However, sometimes it can be extremely helpful practicing web design with an open book or reference guide. The following is a list of a few books that we have found to be particularly useful.
- HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition
Elizabeth Castro
ISBN# 0-3214-3084-0 - Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML
Elisabeth Freeman
ISBN # 0-5961-0197-X - Master Visually HTML4 and XHTML 1
Kelly L. Murdock
ISBN# 0-7645-3454-8 - HTML and XHTML Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition
Jennifer Niederst Robbins
ISBN # 0-5965-2727-6 - Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition
Eric A. Meyer
ISBN# 0-5960-0525-3 - CSS Pocket Reference
Eric A. Meyer
ISBN # 0-5960-0777-9 - Designing with Web Standards, 2nd Edition
Jeffrey Zeldman
ISBN# 0-3213-8555-1 - Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone
John M. Slatin and Sharron Rush
ISBN# 0-2017-7422-4 - Designing Web Graphics.4 (Fourth Edition)
Lynda Weinman
ISBN# 0-7357-1079-1
Web Resources
Below we have provided a set of websites that provide a full range of free instructional content on web design and related topics. Exploring these sites is a great way to extend the content of this curriculum. Many of these sites are additionally linked throughout the curriculum.
Instruction/Tutorials
- W3 Schools
- HTML Dog
- WDG Guide to HTML
- sitepoint.com
- Yale Web Style Guide
- Web Page Design for Designers
- CoolHomePages.com
- PageResource.com
- WebDesign at About.com (+ How to Build a Website in 7 Steps)
- Design Tips, Tutorials and Tricks (175+ links)
- WebMonkey
CSS Resources
- Web Design Group (WDG):
- CSS Zen Garden
- Listamatic2 (sample stylized lists)
Technical Specifications
- HTML 4.01 Specification
- CSS 2 Specification
- CSS2 Properties Index
- XML 1.0 Specification
- XHTML 1.0 Specification
- Web content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
Usability and Accessibility
- Web Style Guide: Universal Usability
- Usability 101, by Jakob Nielsen
- Jakob Nielsen: Ten Usability Heuristics
- AskTOG: First Principles of Interaction Design
- Web Pages That Suck
- AccessIT - includes a searchable Knowledge Base of accessible technology questions and answers
- AccessIT Accessible University Mock Site - example pages that demonstrate common web accessibility problems and solutions
- Videos from DO-IT
- WebAIM - articles and tutorials on all aspects of accessible web design
- University of Washington: Web Accessibility
Color
- Web Style Guide: Visual Design
- WebAIM on Color Blindness
- Wikipedia: Web Colors
- Color Scheme Designer
- VisiBone.com
- Visibone Webmaster's Color Lab
- Colormatters.com
Graphics
- Web Style Guide: Graphics
- sitepoint.com: GIF, JPG, and PNG - What's the difference?
- Webmonkey: Site Optimization Tutorial
- Cropping Photos: Every Picture Tells a Story
Copyright
- U.S. Copyright Office - Frequently Asked Questions
- Cyberbee Interactive Copyright Questions and Answers
- 10 Big Myths about copyright explained
- Stanford University Copyright and Fair Use Overview
Validators
- W3C HTML Validator
- W3C CSS Validator
- WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool)
- Functional Accessibility Evaluator
- Cynthia Says
- University of Washington Accessible Information Technology: Tools and Resources